Lawrence White - Knights of the Chosen

The gleason struck so quickly that only a few in the great forest room of Chandrajuski’s home knew it was even there. Most were still shaking off the terrible effects of the Chessori mind weapon. The three Chessori lay dead, killed by Mike and Reba, but Otis, Ellie’s Protector, lay dying with a knife in his side. Ellie, the Last of the Chosen, collapsed with a knife in her heart, dead before she reached the floor.

Jessie, Mike’s Protector and the only remaining Great Cat, leaped to the back of the room, firing repeatedly at the gleason to make certain it was dead.

Mike fell to the floor with Ellie, cushioning her. “Guard us!” he yelled to the room at large. Without waiting for a response, he went internal.

›Jake, I need you. She needs you.‹

Jake knew exactly what he meant. ›It’s not done like this, Mike. You’re my host.‹

›We’re her First Knight, Jake. Find a way. You are her only chance.‹

Ellie’s death had come so suddenly that Jake was at a loss, completely unprepared for what Mike asked of him. He had never considered living anywhere but within Mike. Riders always committed to a host and remained with them forever. The thought of leaving Mike devastated him. He wanted to fission a new Rider instead, but he knew his Queen did not have time.

›I’ll try. Give me a minute, then remove the knife.‹

Mike closed his hands around Ellie’s neck, providing skin-to-skin contact for Jake, feeling for a pulse as he did so. There was no pulse at all. He closed his eyes, oblivious to all other activity within the room, feeling intently, waiting for a pulse. Still nothing. He waited the full minute, then pulled the knife from her chest and immediately went back to feeling for a pulse.

After a time, he thought he felt a faint pressure. The pressure gradually increased until he was certain there was a pulse, though it remained weak.

“Thank you, Jake,” he whispered and was momentarily surprised that there was no response. But there could be no response. Jake was no longer a part of him.

His attention widened to take in his surroundings. All eyes were on him and Ellie. Vorst, the replacement Sector Commander, lay bound hand and foot. Jessie crouched beside Otis who was unconscious. “Is he

…?” Mike struggled to ask.

“Not yet,” she growled in response. “But it will not be long. The knives are almost certainly poisoned.”

Mike turned to Reba who stood at the ready, her blaster trying to cover the whole room.

“Jake has gone to Ellie. It seems to be working.”

Her eyes closed as she went internal to her Rider. When her lips thinned and she holstered her blaster, Mike knew the two of them had reached agreement. She went to Otis and laid her hands on him. After a time, she removed the knife from his side.

She turned back to Mike, the sparkle that was always evident in her eyes gone. “Let’s get out of here.”

Jeffers, the leader of Chandrajuski’s underground, spoke into a communicator, then ordered everyone outside to the assembly point. One of Serge’s freighters was just settling to the ground. As they struggled to get Ellie and Otis aboard, the freighter was struck by fire from above. It quickly responded with its own weapons, but it could not move until the ramp closed. Its upper shields glowed from hits, and dissipating energy streaming from the shields struck several of Jeffers’ men. There was no hope for them.

Jeffers boarded and quickly ran for the bridge. When he arrived, the ship was just lifting. Captain Palmetier, though busy, immediately lifted his visor and raised a blaster toward him.

Jeffers raised his hands, shouting, “I’m on your side.” He set his own blaster on the floor and slid it toward Palmetier, then submitted as two crewmen pinned his arms to his sides. A glance at the screens showed a full squadron of fighters engaging the freighter.

A loud, “Time to boogie, Jer,” came over the speakers as another freighter appeared on the screens headed directly into the fray, its weapons firing nonstop. Serge Parsons had come in person.

“On the way, boss,” replied Palmetier curtly. He slid his visor back over his face to cover a grin.

Moments later, a cruiser came into view from over the horizon, moving fast.

“That one’s on our side,” yelled Jeffers. “So are a couple of others. Be careful who you shoot at. Get me into the net so I can help.”

The two crewmen were uncertain until Sir Val showed up. “Let us both into the net,” he ordered.

It didn’t take long before they cleared the fighters and headed for space. In fact, by the time they reached space, there wasn’t a single Rebel fighter left. The Rebel command ship, a cruiser, broke off its pursuit when Jeffers’ friendly squadron approached. When two more squadrons of Jeffers’ ships came over the horizon, it was no contest. The Rebel cruiser retreated.

They reached the edge of space, but they did not have to wait three weeks to jump as did Jeffers’ ships. Use of the micro jumping capability might give away a closely held secret, but Ellie’s life hung in the balance. Joline’s beacon went silent, and it was likely the Rebels would not even see the ship amidst all the confusion. As Palmetier prepared jump computations for the first micro jump, Val contacted Serge and gave him a set of coordinates, explaining to him that three heavy squadrons loyal to Chandrajuski and the Queen would head for that point in space. Admiral Chandrajuski wanted those ships, but none of them knew the location of the Queen’s secret base.

Serge balked until apprised of the Queen’s condition, then grimly advised Val that he’d take care of it.

Joline’s sickbay carried no life support tanks, only a medic and basic supplies. Jake and Celine, the two Riders, had their work cut out for them.

From his own experience Mike knew that, at the very least, food was essential to their survival. The healing process used by Riders consumed large amounts energy. The medic attached two IV’s to each of them and pushed all the nourishment she could into the comatose bodies.

Her principle concern for her patients was not the physical damage caused by the knives – the Riders seemed to have that problem well in hand. Her greater concern was whether the Riders could cope with whatever poison had been on the blades. She took blood samples, then had to wait while a computer worked on the samples.

Mike remained by Ellie’s side. She couldn’t hear him, but he believed his presence might somehow help. She and Otis each contracted high fevers despite their Riders’ best efforts.

The computer only partially resolved the issue of the poison. It was there, and its molecular structure had been analyzed, but it matched no known compound. The medic made an educated guess that it was from the home world of the gleasons. Any wrong attempts to treat it might make Jake and Celine’s jobs harder.

It didn’t take Mike long to make the logical connections. He called Captain Palmetier.

“You carried Otis on his research mission to study the gleasons. Do you have his notes?”

“I do.”

“There might be some mention of poisons used by the gleasons. Can you get everyone you can to review the records for us?”

“We’ll get on it immediately.”

It took a while, but Val and Reba eventually showed up with printouts in hand. “We have a number of possibilities, Mike,” Val advised. “We’ve discarded most of them as being so lethal that they kill instantly. Neither Ellie or Otis would still be alive if they had been used. We’re down to three that are a little slower acting but just as deadly.”

They showed the printouts to the medic who studied them intently. She then went to work on her computer.